The problem with VoIP

Lovegrove believes clients who want to upgrade to an IP-PBX, usually don’t have a data network ready for quality of service. Another mistake is not including the cost of the data network readiness into the total cost of the communications upgrade.

A lot of organisations spend an insufficient amount of time on the business case in determining the success factors and ROI. There is always an emphasis on cost savings rather than the impact VoIP solutions could have in value-adding their business.

“The impact that VoIP solutions had on the data networking infrastructure and the ‘hidden costs’ associated with building the network, security, and integration with existing legacy systems is often not factored in,” says Poole.

Resellers need to ensure they are upgrading their customers for the right reasons and if it is purely for cost savings, than they have not done a “best case ROI analysis before moving ahead,” says Poole.

“It is also important to ensure that all their requirements have been documented in a scoping document so that both parties agree on what is to be delivered.”

Ensuring success

Poole says to be successful in this space, providers need to gain the skills traditional voice providers have gained over the last 50 years as well as ensuring they have ‘new age’ data routing skills.

Prioritising IP traffic, maintaining a secure network and working out how much additional bandwidth will be required, are just three of the major considerations which must be addressed before voice over data is seen as a reality, says Fisher.

The approach that is taken to transitioning from separate voice and data networks is fundamental to the success of a transition program.

Fisher says a logical and staged approach with clear ROI and risk analysis at each stage of the implementation project will make the difference between success and failure for any organisation.

“The process starts with the consolidation of support for the legacy voice and data network followed by the analysis of the data network for its ability to carry voice,” he says.

“The next stages vary based on the clients' exact requirements but generally involve the upgrade of the data network and roll out of voice over IP to low risk environments initially. Once success has been proved and the ROI achieved, higher risk environments such as the contact centre can be considered.”

A staged approach to the project means that investment is required in smaller, more measurable stages and in many cases the initial returns can fund the next phase of the project, says Fisher.

Voice as an application on the data network is no different to running an ERP system across it. The same rigid discipline to security and resilience must be applied as with the introduction of any new application.

Increased demand for a secure voice environment is driven by its time critical nature – users are used to downtime on applications such as Exchange but will be totally unforgiving if they cannot make and receive telephone calls.

“The design of the voice application and the data network upon which it will run is the key to security and the key to resilience,” he says.

Michaels believes the best way for a reseller to understand the needs of their customer is to actually go out, purchase and install the system into their own office first.

“Initially do a thorough investigation for each new client in order to increase your success rate. Then try the product out yourself and also get specialised training on the products you are installing,” he says.

“Also, there are other significant productivity gains/benefits that may be available to businesses via an IP PBX – unified messaging for voice, email and fax, presence management, centralised reception, extension mobility, wireless VoIP handsets etc.

It is also essential that they put their staff through their chosen vendor’s training programs – it may seem costly initially, but the cost of rectifying an implementation gone wrong (and the associated damage to their reputation) will fair outweigh this investment, says Michaels.

Change their view

Changing the customer’s view on VoIP is an important consideration in this sector, because VoIP in itself is irrelevant says Chris Luxford.

In the 80’s, the communications sector moved from analogue telephony to digital and now its moving from digital to IP.

“[VoIP] is just the transport. The Value of IP telephony is that we are about to go through some significant transformation in electronic communication since the invention of the telephone and the subsequent advent of email,” says Luxford.

“We are embarking on products sets that will see all forms of communication, audio, video, IM, SMS, email, conferencing, white-boarding and application sharing - all linked by presence, across any device (phone, mobile, PC, in home devices like TVs etc) on any network, be it corporate or public.”

This transformation over the next three to five years means that system integrators need to be providing now roadmaps for their customers so they can keep pace with the demanding communications needs of their customers and suppliers.

“[Integrators] by their nature tend to predominately sell infrastructure and hardware maintenance services. As we move to an application and appliance industry, the value will be in delivering standards based intelligent middleware wrapped around information infrastructure and unified communications,” he says.

Luxford believes the primary revenue streams need to shift to development/integration services around XML, SIP, .Net, Java, J2EE, SOAP and AJAX.

“Managed services will deliver value in terms of shifting the commercial/value model for customers and lowering risk. Selling networking, storage and voice communications equipment will still happen but it will become the secondary revenue stream,” he says.